Heritage in the kiln: Renewal and sustainability through traditional brickmaking
Have you ever considered the bricks in the walls that surround you, the walls of your home, your classroom or your office? Alumni of this University probably know the story behind the “Notre Dame Brick” that gives some of the oldest buildings on campus their distinctive buff-yellow hue. But beyond a handful of specific historical instances, how many of us have ever thought about where the bricks in our walls came from, the origin of their raw clay, the process by which they were molded or the kiln in which they were fired?
Research into traditional brickmaking in the central Italian region of Umbria by two University of Notre Dame School of Architecture students, Jack Harrington '23 and Nathan Walz '24, provokes such questions about our built environment, the structures we have inherited from the past, created ourselves, and those we will build in the future.
Supported by a summer research grant from the Nanovic Institute for European Studies, a unit within the Keough School of Global Affairs, Harrington and Walz traveled to the village of Castel Viscardo, near the city of Orvieto, in June to document the process of traditional brick making at Fornace Bernasconi, a historic kiln now in its second generation of production. Led by master brickmaker Luigi Bernasconi, the facility is renowned for its bricks, tiles and other terra cotta elements that have helped restore and preserve some of Italy's most treasured structures including the Colosseum and the imperial building on the Palatine.
Read more here.
Latest ND NewsWire
- Literacy scholar Ernest Morrell elected to American Academy of Arts and SciencesErnest Morrell, the Coyle Professor of Literacy Education at the University of Notre Dame, has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the nation’s oldest learned societies and independent policy research centers. Morrell was one of the 250 members of the newest AAAS class announced today. Other notable names among the group include filmmaker George Clooney, Apple CEO Tim Cook, novelist Jhumpa Lahiri, and Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist and 1993 Notre Dame alumnus Carlos Lozada.
- "Words Fly Through Air"Every day, people use mobile devices to communicate, stream video, check the weather, navigate, play games, and use thousands of other apps. Only in the most recent decades have these technologies become more accessible. Wireless technology also underlies radio astronomy, satellites, television and…
- Startup financing gender gaps greater in societies where women are more empoweredNew research from the University of Notre Dame finds that gender discrimination in startup financing is magnified in societies with greater women’s empowerment.
- European Commissioner Mairead McGuinness to deliver 2024 Barrett Family LectureNotre Dame’s Nanovic Institute for European Studies will welcome European Commissioner Mairead McGuinness to deliver the fourth Barrett Family Lecture on Friday (April 26) at Iveagh House in Dublin. Her lecture, titled “Ireland, the EU and the USA: Navigating the Future Together,” will begin at noon local time.
- There’s no ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to addressing men’s health issues globallyAt a time when health resources are at a premium and need to be wisely allocated, health professionals must find points within men’s lives when it makes the most sense to intervene and advocate for preventive care for promoting better health outcomes. Life transitions such as marriage and fatherhood are often pivotal and crucial intervention points. But just like every man is different, health concerns across global communities differ as well. Research from the University of Notre Dame finds that not all life transitions produce the same health results, and not all men’s global health policies should look the same from one country to another.
- Medicinal chemist Sabine Hadida to deliver Graduate School Commencement addressThe University of Notre Dame Graduate School will hold its annual commencement ceremony at 9 a.m. May 18 (Saturday) at Notre Dame Stadium. Sabine Hadida, a renowned medicinal chemist, will deliver the keynote address. University President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., will confer the various master’s and doctoral degrees.